That actually was the case and Zetter wasn't suspended. If you look at the game summary you'll notice malkin received the instigator and the misconduct. Does the instigator always include a misconduct with it?

That kind of reminds me of the 2009 finals where the press would ask him about why he felt the need to cross check Z after the whistles so much and he said something to the effect of, 'I'm not going to say he started it... But he started it...." It was obviously not in those words but the sentiment was similar.

Or when they asked him what he thought of Zata pretty much singlehandedly killing that one penalty, he said something to the effect of "I didn't think it was a big deal, anyone could do that." Little prick.

That actually was the case and Zetter wasn't suspended. If you look at the game summary you'll notice malkin received the instigator and the misconduct. Does the instigator always include a misconduct with it?

Or when they asked him what he thought of Zata pretty much singlehandedly killing that one penalty, he said something to the effect of "I didn't think it was a big deal, anyone could do that." Little prick.

“He made a good play on me, got my stick. But just did a good job of trying to get a stick in the lane. I don’t think he did anything out of the ordinary, besides any other guy would do on a five on three.”

Milbury backs down, hopefully the same doesn't happen with Flyers' assistant coach Craig Berube (link above). Again, calling them as he sees them: Crosby and Malkin get away with more slashes, cross-checks, elbows, and sucker-punch bulls*** than anyone in the league. Never penalized for the s*** they do, and yet Crosby is always at the center of complaining to officials and media, a shove he received is the topic discussion more so than all the slashes and s*** he got away with. Like Milbury said "Crosby gets cross-checked, big whoop".

Yes, plenty of other people are guilty of all the things for which people fault Crosby and use in their (probably altogether vain) attempts to somehow tear him down. And, were this just about the allegations in question, that'd be that. Thing is, though, it's not really about the allegations (not primarily, at least).

It's not "Crosby's a DIVER!"
It's "CROSBY's a diver!"

Plenty of people pull the same s*** he pulls. But plenty of people aren't him. He is the face of the National Hockey League, and, by extension, the current face of ice hockey itself. People who bash him, what they're sore about is the fact that ice hockey's biggest star, the NHL's golden boy, the guy who more than a few have called the next Gretzky, is kind of a ****** bag.

I'm sure he's actually a really great guy and all. But that's essentially moot. The issue is that The Next Great One, for whatever reasons, real or imagined, valid or inane, seems to have this way of inspiring intense loathing in one out of every, say, ten people - when, ideally, you'd like for it be more like one in every, say, hundred. In other words, you'd like for him to be more likeable - because, at the end of the day, this guy is (one more time!) The One. And we're stuck with him. For a long time.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Or when they asked him what he thought of Zata pretty much singlehandedly killing that one penalty, he said something to the effect of "I didn't think it was a big deal, anyone could do that." Little prick.

I think he's a sore loser after games and in the heat of the moment. It's a sign of his competitiveness but also his immaturity.

No, but he's the one that gets shoved down our throats and treated like he's the second coming.

In all fairness, he is the best the NHL has seen since Lemieux and/or Gretzky...and has a chance if he stays healthy to have one of the best careers ever.

I can understand Detroit fans not liking him, as he is outspoken, is very good and has beaten Detroit in the finals recently...but as a Blues fan, there hasn't been anything on the ice in a Blues-Pens game to cause me to hate him.

In all fairness, he is the best the NHL has seen since Lemieux and/or Gretzky...and has a chance if he stays healthy to have one of the best careers ever.

I can understand Detroit fans not liking him, as he is outspoken, is very good and has beaten Detroit in the finals recently...but as a Blues fan, there hasn't been anything on the ice in a Blues-Pens game to cause me to hate him.

Correction, his TEAM beat Detroit, Crosby was shut down by Zetterberg in the Finals.

In all fairness, he is the best the NHL has seen since Lemieux and/or Gretzky...and has a chance if he stays healthy to have one of the best careers ever.

I can understand Detroit fans not liking him, as he is outspoken, is very good and has beaten Detroit in the finals recently...but as a Blues fan, there hasn't been anything on the ice in a Blues-Pens game to cause me to hate him.

Its nothing to do with losing to him in '09. Plenty of Wings fans hated him before then. Me personally, I had nothing against him before the 08 finals, though there were already plenty of Crosby haters around. Seeing him up close and personal for 6 games led to my (and many others) personal dislike of him. Then the 08-09 Regular season, with the NHL advert that led you to believe Crosby won the cup in '08 and having him relentlessly rammed down your throat in all other regards was just oil on the fire.

The 09 playoffs was merely more confirmation of what we already thought of him. Interestingly I work with a guy who's a big Canadiens fan, who never understood my Crosby dislike - until Montreal played Pittsburgh in the playoffs. After that series (which Montreal also won) he came up to me and said "I now understand why you hate Crosby"

"If I can be totally honest, it's not a lot of guys you get impressed by. Actually, it's no one else but him. From the bench, to see what move he makes -- you're like, 'I wish I could do that.' Sometimes you sit on the bench and just think, 'wow,' and you look over to the other bench and they sit there and shake their heads, too. He has great, great skills. I'm probably not going to play with another player who has the kind of skills he has." Mikael Samuelsson on Pavel Datsyuk

What a f***in spineless s***head Milbury is for apologizing. If you believe in what you say then you don't change because some dickhead tells you to or fines you for your opinion. s***head is a millionaire and can afford a fine for what he believes in. If he didn't believe it then shut your face at the beginning. Now he just looks like a spineless piss ant.

What a f***in spineless s***head Milbury is for apologizing. If you believe in what you say then you don't change because some dickhead tells you to or fines you for your opinion. s***head is a millionaire and can afford a fine for what he believes in. If he didn't believe it then shut your face at the beginning. Now he just looks like a spineless piss ant.

Milbury doesn't work for the NHL so they can't fine him. And I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that Bettman told him to apologize.

Most likely someone at NBC told him that, true as it may be, they thought he went too far. Or maybe Milbury decided it on his own? Though that seems highly unlikely.

Milbury doesn't work for the NHL so they can't fine him. And I haven't seen anything that leads me to believe that Bettman told him to apologize.

Most likely someone at NBC told him that, true as it may be, they thought he went too far. Or maybe Milbury decided it on his own? Though that seems highly unlikely.

Yeah. I doubt the NHL was involved at the league level at all. More likely it was NBC telling him to tone it back. Keep in mind that, even if the NHL doesn't say anything, the Pens can tell NBC that they're going to restrict access to certain stars if that's the type of coverage they're going to get. I'm not insinuating that this was Crosby getting any different treatment than any other star player, mind you. But if a team tells their broadcasting partner that they'll no longer have the level of lockerroom or personal interest story access they're accustomed to because of disparaging remarks made by one of their analysts, the network is more than likely to apply a muzzle and an apology.

Kudos to Milbury for speaking his mind (I happen to agree with him), and I don't think any less of him for backing down some when it's almost a certainty that his check signers told him "that was a no no."

I can understand Detroit fans not liking him, as he is outspoken, is very good and has beaten Detroit in the finals recently...but as a Blues fan, there hasn't been anything on the ice in a Blues-Pens game to cause me to hate him.

This is a popular misconception. Joe Sakic beat the Wings in 96, 99, and 2000 and while I didn't like him, it was different. I didn't like him because he beat the Wings, but I respected him and the way he played the game. He let his skill do his talking. He didn't take cheapshots at people when things didn't go his way. The truth is, Wings fans (well at least me anyways), started to dislike Crosby after Game 4 in the 2008 Finals. That was the game of the famous 5-3 kill where Zetterberg stopped Crosby right on the doorstep and killed off the penalty. After the game was over, the Wings are skating back to the locker room and Crosby skates over and gets in Z's face. WTF? He's supposed to be a leader and face of the league and he's trash talking to a guy that just beat him because he's a sore loser. Since then I've opened my eyes and seen him do A LOT of shady things (slew footing, slashing every single time he loses a face off, elbows, sucker punches from behind, etc). Regardless of the outcome of the 2009 Finals, I would still hate his guts today.

This is a popular misconception. Joe Sakic beat the Wings in 96, 99, and 2000 and while I didn't like him, it was different. I didn't like him because he beat the Wings, but I respected him and the way he played the game. He let his skill do his talking. He didn't take cheapshots at people when things didn't go his way.

Sakic was a class act. Probably the only member of the Avs team during the rivalry that I just couldn't bring myself to hate because he was just a good guy and didn't get into all the whining and dirty s*** that other so-called team leaders engage in. Come to think of it, I haven't seen anything of him after he retired. He was always a quiet, humble guy a la Yzerman. I'd have to assume he's working for the Avs in some capacity, right?

Sakic was a class act. Probably the only member of the Avs team during the rivalry that I just couldn't bring myself to hate because he was just a good guy and didn't get into all the whining and dirty s*** that other so-called team leaders engage in. Come to think of it, I haven't seen anything of him after he retired. He was always a quiet, humble guy a la Yzerman. I'd have to assume he's working for the Avs in some capacity, right?

Quotes from wiki:

After he retired, Sakic decided to take time off from hockey and spent time with his family. In 2011, two years after his retirement, Sakic was hired by the Avalanche to work in their front office. He was named an Executive Advisor and Alternate Governor for the team, effective at the end of the 2010–11 season. In his role as an advisor, Sakic would advise the team in hockey-related matters, and as an alternate governor, would represent the team at Board of Governors meetings.

And an extra little snippet which says much about him.

His charity work, which is estimated to have provided more than 7 million meals to poor children and families, has earned an NHL Foundation Player Award in 2007.

To bring it back to topic: I wouldn't compare Sidney to Sakic, but I wouldn't compare him to Roy or Claude either.

He's more of a Forsberg. So much potential, but such a little wienie. <-- reference to personality, not physical characteristic. I wouldn't know about the size of that. <shudders>